"Kill them!"
The instant Fenris stepped out of the Bifrost, deafening battle cries crashed against his eardrums.
It sounded as though thousands of soldiers and horses were charging across the ground at once. Earthshaking rumbles rolled in endlessly from the distance, mingling with screams, agonized wails, and countless bursts of wild laughter.
"Thor?"
Fenris spun toward Thor in alarm and immediately realized that something was wrong.
Although he had never visited Asgard before, a mighty and prosperous realm under Odin's protection should never have looked like this.
Thor's eyes were even wider, his face filled with disbelief.
"No… No…"
After countless years of waging war across the Nine Realms, Thor was extraordinarily sensitive to the atmosphere of a battlefield. In an instant, he detected the heavy clouds of war hanging over Asgard.
Compared to the scorching New Mexico desert, arriving in Asgard felt like stepping straight from a furnace into an ice cellar. The bitter cold made Thor, who now possessed only the body of an ordinary human, tremble uncontrollably.
His eyes were filled with complicated emotions. It was impossible to tell whether he was shaking from the bone-piercing cold or the fear in his heart.
"No, Loki…"
Listening to the sounds of battle outside, Thor could no longer remain calm. An indescribable frenzy radiated from his entire body.
Rather than accept that Asgard had truly fallen into such desperate straits, some part of him desperately wished this was merely another petty scheme concocted by Loki…
"Damn Frost Giants!"
Thor gritted his teeth and glanced at Mjolnir lying quietly beside Fenris's feet. He suddenly stepped forward, wrapped both hands around the handle, and exerted every ounce of strength in his body in an attempt to lift it.
Fate, however, played another cruel joke on him.
After struggling fruitlessly for a long moment, Thor abruptly raised his head and roared, "Why?!"
"Thor…"
At that moment, a faint voice no louder than a mosquito's buzz came from a nearby corner.
This was the Bifrost's control chamber. The spherical structure that had once gleamed with gold had lost all its former splendor. Several towering blue-skinned giants lay motionless across the floor, their bodies showing no signs of life.
At the center of the chamber stood a tall, powerfully built warrior in golden armor, gripping a golden sword. His face was deathly pale as he weakly called Thor's name.
His sword had been inserted into the Bifrost's control mechanism. When Thor failed to hear him, he shifted his gaze toward Fenris.
"Fenris… Please… save Asgard…"
Heimdall's once-brilliant eyes had become extremely dim, and the look he gave Fenris was filled with desperate pleading.
"Laufey, King of the Frost Giants, brought all of Jotunheim's elite warriors with him. They bypassed the Bifrost and escaped my sight before forcing their way into Asgard. We had no time to prepare, and now… Cough, cough…"
"The Allfather is asleep, the Queen can barely protect herself, Loki has been sealed in ice, and Thor has lost his power. All we can do now is offer futile resistance…"
"Save Asgard. For the Allfather's sake, please…"
Heimdall's hands slipped weakly from the hilt of his golden sword, and Fenris hurried forward to support him.
The moment Fenris's warm hands touched his, Heimdall nearly lost consciousness from the pain. Even so, his eyes remained fixed imploringly on Fenris.
Only after Fenris nodded did Heimdall finally tilt his head to one side and completely lose consciousness.
"Thank you… Fenris…"
Clang!
Fenris gently laid Heimdall's grievously wounded body on the floor. He pulled the golden sword from the Bifrost's control mechanism and placed it in Heimdall's arms, then pursed his lips and abruptly rose to his feet.
"Thor, get up!"
"Asgard is on the brink of destruction. There's no time for you to waste."
Fenris casually cast a minor concealment spell to hide Heimdall and his sword. Then he walked over to Thor, who was still desperately trying to lift Mjolnir, and hauled him off the floor.
"It doesn't matter if you can't lift the hammer. You could cry until you had no tears left, and it still wouldn't help. Instead of wallowing in self-pity here, come with me and fight our way out."
Fenris wiped the tears from the corners of Thor's eyes, picked up a long-handled Frost Giant blade from the floor, and forcefully shoved it into Thor's hands.
"Come with me like a warrior!"
Thor silently tested the weight of the blade before looking around.
Blood covered the floor. Broken weapons and the mangled remains of Frost Giants lay scattered everywhere, numbering in the dozens. It wasn't difficult to imagine how brutal the fighting here had been.
Heimdall must have single-handedly held off the elite Frost Giant warriors who surrounded him. Only after carving a path through them had he managed to open the Bifrost and bring Thor and Fenris to Asgard.
A single glance was enough for Thor to understand everything that had happened. His vision blurred with tears once again.
"Loki, wait for me!"
Thor finally drew a deep breath, shouldered the blade, and strode toward the exit.
Remembering how badly he had misunderstood Loki only moments ago, Thor gritted his teeth against the pain in his heart and instinctively looked beyond the Bifrost.
Past the long rainbow bridge and Asgard's central city, the magnificent golden palace towered majestically in the distance.
The once-prosperous Asgard had been ravaged by war and was visibly descending into chaos.
Countless towering Frost Giants rampaged through the city, charging recklessly with their weapons and formidable bodies.
Fortunately, Asgard wasn't completely defenseless. The elite army Odin had personally forged had already deployed.
Medieval-style warships filled the sky, while towering artillery batteries throughout the city continuously fired powerful energy beams. Multicolored rays streaked across the battlefield. Despite the suddenness of the attack, Asgard's forces had managed to establish a fragile defensive line, barely preventing the casualties from rising further.
"The Frost Giants are too physically powerful. Unless Asgard can consolidate all its forces, it won't survive an assault like this for long."
"And Laufey, King of the Frost Giants, is here as well. His power is immense. If the Casket of Ancient Winters falls into his hands, then this war…"
Thor quickly took in the entire battlefield. Gritting his teeth, he felt his thoughts descend into chaos. He couldn't think of any simple and effective way to break the deadlock.
"This can't continue. What should I do? What am I supposed to do…?"
As Thor's mind raced, a wave of bitter cold suddenly swept toward them from the distance.
The next moment, several towering figures firmly blocked the Bifrost's entrance.
"Everyone, watch out! It's Thor, the God of Thunder!"
(End of Chapter)
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